What's your top scores for Dragon Ball Z and why?

[thedarkuniter]

Inspired by my recent Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzJwlPbhKLA As many know, North America has a long and confusing history with Dragon Ball Z related stuff, ranging from home releases, to dubs and of course music. Please try to be respectful with each other opinions so that this thread can go smooth sailing. Anyway, here's my list:

1) Kikuchi
2) Yamamoto
3) Ocean BGM
4) Faulconer

Number One for me of course is Kikuchi. I was introduced to the score by watching the Japanese version for the first time. It took some time to get used to but now I love it and I can't picture either Dragon Ball or Dr. Slump without his music. Second place goes to Yamamoto. Despite him copying off of other people's work, I still love his score for Kai and his insert songs for Z which are some of the best pieces for the show. It's such a shame that his score for Kai is now removed. Third place goes to the Ocean BGM for the original episodes because I believe that it's the best replacement score for Z and captured the mood well. I also heard that Levy also helped Kikuchi with score for Z. And finally for last place, is the Faulconer score. For its own music, I like it a lot, however for Z, I don't think it fits it properly. Granted, there are badass moments in Z however, there are many other different elements such as the comedy aspect and the drama in the series.

[VegettoEX]

I also heard that Levy also helped Kikuchi with score for Z

Yeah... err... no, that's not accurate at all ^^;;.

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

My top 5:

1) Yamamoto: There's so much variety here with each theme having a different style, some orchestral and others with electric guitars. Even though a lot of themes are plagiarized I really love his call backs to his Budokai score and the rip-off pieces like 'Ebb and Flow' make the series seem like a movie. A couple of personal favourites from his score:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii9SKwSr ... w&index=12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG2a0LG1Zmo

2) Kikuchi (Dragon Ball-Android arc): What can I say? Classic stuff, very memorable and sticks to the spirit of 'Dragon Ball'. DBZ Movies 1, 3, 6 and 8 featured some great stuff.
A couple of favourites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut6m3uLGxgs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqzpYZMB1X8 (1:08= Pure gold!)

3) Bruce Faulconer (Buu Arc): Nostalgia. A large step up above his previous work which for the most part felt like constant droning with the occasional decent theme thrown into the important moments. In the Buu arc Faulconer and co. pulled together all of the decent themes from the previous arcs as well as composing some new themes which were very lively and full of energy. Favourites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0lj2bG- ... w&index=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCjF2ZRy ... ture=inbox

4) Mark Menza (DBZ Movie 6): When Mark Menza first got involved with the franchise his music was brilliant and memorable. The opening theme is easily my favourite of the English dub ones and was even used for the season sets. Other memorable themes include Gohan, Piccolo and Krillin vs. the Robots, Goku using Kaioken on Cooler and the Super Saiyan theme. Unfortunately the quality of Mark's work quickly dropped after this movie and was very bland in GT (although there was a couple of themes I liked: Super 17's theme and that piece that plays when Goku gains the upper hand in a fight).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP7cgx_LC80

5) Nathan Johnson (DBZ Movies 12 and 13): While his 'Uncut' score was pretty bad I really enjoyed his music for these two movies. Movie 12 had some very generic rock music, which I actually enjoyed to be honest, while Movie 13 actually had some very cinematic orchestral music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b-LJGGs ... w&index=17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz-KBdRgff4

[thedarkuniter]

My top 5:

1) Yamamoto: There's so much variety here with each theme having a different style, some orchestral and others with electric guitars. Even though a lot of themes are plagiarized I really love his call backs to his Budokai score and the rip-off pieces like 'Ebb and Flow' make the series seem like a movie. A couple of personal favourites from his score:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii9SKwSr ... w&index=12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG2a0LG1Zmo

Those pieces are my favorite pieces from Kai, they really work out once Freeza starts to appear. His insert songs for Kai are also very fun to listen to.

[Pokewhiz7]

Menza
Levy
Faulconer Productions
Johnson (1-67, Movies 12 and 13)
Kikuchi
Yamamoto

I can find at least something good with all of them except Menza. I really hate the Menza score. Otherwise, they all have songs I really like.

Levy:
Goku's Arrival

Faulconer Productions:
Garlic Transformation
Intro To Finale And Closing Music
Hercule's Orchestra
Episodic Trunks
SSJ3 Power Up
Vegeta Super-Saiyan

Johnson:
Vegeta Vs Beast Zarbon
Goku vs Vegeta
Piccolo's Sacrifice
Battle Theme 1
Burter and Jeice Attack Goku
Welcome To Other World

Kikuchi:
Too many to list

Yamamoto:
Too many to list